@Trainerblue192@Morose

It was rare, a moment of peace amidst a war. And yet here, in this tiny pocket of space, the soft babbling of a fountain and the soft singing of violin strings created the illusion of peace. Steam rose off the in-floor pool, stones and verdant flora ringing the marble pool gave the illusion of a Terran spring from ages past. Lavender, chamomile, and lemongrass blended in the pool and rose with the steam and, coupled with the honeyed whiskey settled neatly in an alcove barely an arm’s length away, left the High Inquisitor with ample distance from her daily duties that her Whispers were little more than gentle taps at the back of her mind, rather than the incessant buzzing from her normal life. She smirked as one thought slipped through, the disdain and disregard of one rebel her minions prepared for an interrogation session amusing her.

It wasn’t that she didn’t care for her own kind. It was more that she truly only cared about herself and no one could argue that the Empire was the winning side. The Rebellion was cute, but what would it ever amount to? It hadn’t been able to break the status quo since the Emperor and Lord Thanos neatly tucked the Sol system’s throat under their boot and with all current modeling predictions, wouldn’t ever be able to. Mutants, humans, aliens… the difference didn’t matter. All that mattered was she survived, and she’d slaughter as many life forms as it took to maintain her well deserved commodities. Just because they shared a gene did not endear them to her. They were faceless strangers, and they would be faceless corpses for all she cared.

“High Inquisitor, Brigadier General Hoffman requested an audience.” The music faded away as the AI that served as her personal assistant interrupted her relaxation. Nothing good ever lasted and she sighed, the mechanical bathing assistant whirring to life and approaching the pool with heated towels. “While Brigadier General Hoffman has declined to offer any information to me, a preliminary bioscan suggests he is both pleased and terrified, and is at a high risk of a heart attack.” The Inquisitor shook her head as she stepped from the pool and onto the towel laid out for her, taking the other while she considered.

The Brigadier General approaching her was a strange thing. Being a human, and a mediocre one at that, his resentment and fear rolled off him in waves when any mutant or alien so much as passed by him. Whatever information he held was likely the result of punishment for some mistake. She knew full well the main bulk of the Empire’s authority feared her- she’d spent a lifetime cultivating that fear. So either this information was of the utmost importance and they’d decided only one of Lord Thanos’s pet freaks could handle it, or the pathetic excuse of a man failed at some menial task and this was his punishment. Either way, she decided she was displeased.

She took her time after permitting him entrance into her office’s antechamber. He interrupted her during her personal time, so she wasn’t in any rush to help the little worm. The white dress she chose boasted a gold belt around the waist with a opal center and sleeveless to compliment the high gold collar that rose up to her left ear but smoothed down to the right shoulder, the metallic fibers in the collar acting as a solar charger for the various energy implements she employed in her line of work. A pair of opal earrings followed, both acting as a link to her AI and capable of deploying an opaque face shield, and an opal necklace, bracelet, and anklet, which all acted as deployment points for her energy armor.

Once she was ready, she moved to her office, a comfortable room with only one chair behind her desk that overlooked the Imperial plaza. Various pieces of alien art decorated the walls, each one commissioned after a successful mission, interspersed between bookshelves, system access panels, and a holo-map of the solar system with an array of dots scattered about it. She contemplated how to receive him for a moment before activating her face shield, leaving but a blank white surface. She knew it’d unnerve him.

“Permit the Brigadier General entry.” A moment later, the antechamber door hissed as it slid open, revealing the short, impish brute that interrupted her. She didn’t need to brush his mind to feel his emotions. For an officer in the legions of the Empire, he regulated his expressions poorly. Yet still she reached out, basking in the apprehension and revulsion he felt just by crossing the threshold.

“You certainly took your time, Inquisitor.” Hoffman bit out, clearly holding back whatever it was he wanted to say. It seemed the Brigadier General was wiser than he seemed, though not too much more considering she’d been in his head since she walked into her office and he seemed none the wiser. “I informed your assistant that this intelligence was of the utmost importance and to have you keep me waiting, despite the General themself sending ahead an authorization missive, is basically insubordination! You will remember your position is only granted to you by the grace of Lord―” He balked as she stretched out her hand.

“The files, if you will.” The high Inquisitor demanded, the conversation unnecessary after sifting through the mental pigsty behind Hoffman’s eyes. He clicked his tongue irritably, but withdrew the data unit as requested and placed it in her palm. “Thank you. You are dismissed.” His face turned red at the casual dismissal and although he opened his mouth to argue, nothing came out as his eyes glazed over and she mockingly used two fingers to walk him out of the room. She permitted him his mind back just as the doors shut, just in time for her to chuckle at the intense swearing that slipped through the crack.

She placed the data unit on her desk as she took a seat, the white lines of her AI circling it while the virtual screen appeared and populated a table of context. It would be a few more minutes until Persephony summarized the various contents of the unit and the Inquisitor amused herself by scanning the various highly scientific reports included. Clearly, someone was playing with fire if they thought creating more mutants was the answer to the aggressive regime the Empire maintained.

Finally, Persephone populated her report and the Inquisitor smiled as her face shield vanished. This had been an issue her Whispers brought to her a while back, and to have it placed so nicely in her hands was exactly what she needed to take the next step in her career. “Persephone, cross reference the location of our target with any available Bounty Hunters from the watchlist.” She instructed, as she typed up the job chit. Six names came up, three of them in one group, and a sharp smirk unfurled at the revelation. “Push Dr Haggar's chit to these six. Then, attach the chit to Project Delphi and begin initialization sequences. It’s time to see the rats run the course.”

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The request beeped above the holo-table of the Excelsior, hovering next to the image of the poor target in question. The indicator on the table displayed this was a general job request, a high stake, high reward mission sent out to as many nearby hunters as possible in order to catch the target quickly. With this reward, everyone and their mother was going to hunt this man to the end of the universe and beyond. And if some bounty hunters got shot down in the process, well, the solar system probably wouldn’t mourn them.

Still in hyperspace, finally repaired after a rogue asteroid slammed into the poor, unsuspecting ship, the hyperspace engine hummed softly beneath the mainhold where the holo-table, surrounded by deep comfy chairs and one sofa bolted to the wall, dominated the space. Another section of the room, secured by a bioscanner, boasted a heavy arsenal of weaponry from blasters and a rifle, to good old fashioned knives, and restraints and a few sonic grenades. Various trinkets provided by the three owners of the ship jingled quietly where they were strung along the ceiling of the hold and although the lights in the mainhold were off, a number of crystals strung up by the team glowed in the dark room.

Slowly, the lights in the room flickered to life and the far door from the cockpit hissed as it opened. Danni stretched and yawned, his shirt lifting as he scratched at his stomach. His back was fucking killing him from sitting in the cockpit for the past hour, barely staying awake as he watched the path prediction bullshit. As much as everyone hated sitting in the cockpit during hyperspace jumps, not doing it was how they crashed Excelsior the first time and no one wanted to go back to begging for credits just to get their shift off the damn ground. Why couldn’t the autopilot adjust faster in hyperspace, then he could do better things like sleep, annoy Dee and Princess, or just cuddle. Instead, it was his turn to sit and stare at path projections like he actually knew any of the numbers on the screen other than “Get ready bitch, asteroid in the path!!!!”

The lights beyond the mainhold flickered to life as well, letting the other passengers know there was movement on the deck. A message would display in all the rooms anyway, so that the team would know a job chit hit the holotable. Danni scanned over it wearily, humming as he did. The face slipped away from his mind almost instantly, but he wasn’t the organizer of their operations so it didn’t really matter yet. Instead, he hummed at the reward and the drop off point, making a face at the empire controlled location, and turned to wander further into the ship to find the rest of his criminal pals, but he paused. His groggy brain cleared very slowly, but was very intent on rereading the details of the chit. Danni turned slowly, suddenly very alert as he took in the information. He reread the reward several times.

He screamed.

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They had been having such a nice dream.

Or at least, it had been nicer than the ones they usually had. Most nights, they were grateful to close their eyes and just have blackness envelope them. If dreams came, they were filled with people long lost, people they had given up hope ever seeing again. Even their mother, functionally immortal thanks to the goddess Athena, had not survived the onslaught - that beam that had come from out of nowhere, and blotted out every super powered being in the Sol system. Only their little group had survived - a cosmic joke. April wasn't sure where the rest were - their sister at least was likely still on Olympus, more and more the goddess and less the person ever day.

All they had left was this ship, this tiny family of three - Dorian and Danni. Nothing else had been consistent. And while they had once hoped to be a hero, that hope had died long ago. Now, they set their skills to bounty hunting - it didn't matter who gave the job, a job was a job. And there was no point in fighting the Empire. Nemo had told them to not even bother with his dying breath. So they did this. They got the job chit, used their mutant powers and tendency towards strategic chaos, and collected the bounty. All while trying their very best not to damage the ship too much, as they weren't exactly mechanical experts, and repairs were getting more and more expensive by the day, what with the Emperor raising taxes on parts.

They wished they had still been asleep. They had been dreaming of a girl they had met once - a pink skinned Kree, her name had been... Well, it didn't matter what her name had been.

Especially as April then realized what had woken them up. A scream. Danni's scream. They grabbed their blaster out from underneath their pillow, and pressed the release button. The door to their small room opened with a hiss, retracting into the wall, as April ran barefoot towards the sound of the scream. They scurried up from the living quarters to the main deck, ready to blast anything that moved, only to find...

"Danni, what the fuck is going on?" April asked. "Are you okay? Is it a psychic attack? Point me in the direction of what I need to shoot and I'll--" they fell silent. Their eyes had spotted the holotable. The chit. The reward. The reward. "Holy shit!!!" they screamed. "FIFTEEN MILLION CREDITS?!?!?!?!"

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There was a nice kind of silence emanating throughout the ship. April was sleeping up in her quarters while Danni watched the main console for their trip through Hyperspace. Sometimes it felt like it was the only time that Dorian really had to think to himself. A dim yellow light hung just above his head, grease spots splattered across his face in little droplets as he hovered underneath their speeder. Out of the three of them, he always was better with machines than they were. He held a wrench in one hand, pressing it against an open edge as he gently used it to push himself further down the speeder, dragging the light along with him as he did. He opened up another panel, pressing on it so it popped open before sliding it back and away to reveal the exposed tubing. "Ah. T'ere you are."

Above him laid an unattached cufflink, the rubber hose hanging low as it now dragged along the metal chassis. Dorian rolled his eyes with a playful smile as he could only imagine how one of the two likely hit something hard enough to loosen the damned thing. It would've functioned fine enough for a while, but (as they had experienced) after some mileage it would sputter out the machine to a halt. Its male end was bent out of alignment, and Dorian slowly applied pressure to it until it finally fit back into place. He make quick work of the rest, re-attching the cufflink, tightening anything else that may have shaken loose, and then finally closing the panel once more as a dim blue glow came from a workbench off to his left. Dorian was about to slip out to look at it when Danni's scream pierced the silence throughout the entire ship.

He quickly sat up, hitting his head on the underside of their speeder before falling back down onto his hover-creeper. "Merde!" Kicking the floor with his heel, there was a soft warbling sound as he shot out from under the speeder. Dorian untied the bandana he'd wrapped around his arm, using it to wipe his face clear of grease, a few smudges left behind. Wind rushed past him as he made his way past the workbench, grabbing his saber before going towards the main hold. The lights were all flickering alive, one by one as he made it through the corridors, finally reaching his destination as he realized only April and Danni stood in the room.

Dorian scanned the room, looking around for the potential threat as he wondered if some scumbag alien had decided to stow away from their last planetary visit. No vents seemed disturbed, and nothing was truly out of place. There was a long sigh as he went to pinch the bridge of his nose. "What t'e 'ell guys? I was working on the damn speeder, t'e…" His eyes finally landed on the chit projecting off of the table. He read it several time over in silence until he finally tan towards April and Danni, pulling them both into an intense group hug. "Fifteen Million Credits! I don't know who t'e 'ell t'is man is or who 'e pissed off but if we can get to 'im first!" Dorian didn't even wait, accepting the chit as he saved the Bounty into their ships drive before opening up the starchart on the holotable. "Let's see now… 'ow far are we from t'at gods forsaken planet?"

The Holotable brought up the Sol star chart with a few taps, an intricate hologram of swirling celestial bodies. A small marker blinked into existence, showing them their location in relation to the rest of the system. It was hurling quickly towards a familiar haven for their profession - the Weighing Stones in the depths of Terra, on the southern tip of an area once known as Argentina. Now, it was just one part of the complex machine their home planet was transformed into, the deep, deep, deep underbelly of the Inmuda district the perfect hiding place for those who skirted the law in the name of success.

Given that they were passing only a few light-years off Arrako, it wouldn't take much time to exit hyperspace, flip a u-y, and re-enter after the system calculated their route. A brief analysis suggested it would take less than a Terran day to arrive, pending whatever system warnings appeared. Most of them went ignored, as either they'd obtained the ship with those warnings or they just didn't have the credits to afford non-critical repairs, but Danni always offered a cursory glance before they kept speeding on. He wasn't super keen on dying in the yawning void of space, and he didn't have the skills to prevent it if it came to that.

Even as the chit disappeared, Danni clung to his little family, almost in tears. "15 million credits? We… we could just fuckin' retire or somet'ing. Buy a nice place on whatever planet we wanted and just fuck around until we die. Or, or, or we could drink at t'e Weighin' Stones for like… ever. Wouldn't 'ave to be sober for any of t'is bullshit anymore!" Danni was breathless, starting to shake with excitement. "T'anos's taint, we could like, get one of t'ose really fancy AI assistants for t'e ship! We could fix everyt'in' wrong wit' t'e ship! We could do whatever t'e fuck we wanted! 15 million credits…" He muttered reverently.

Now, Danni wasn't the smartest person on this ship, but as the shock cleared and the gears in his head started to spin, he could only think of two groups that could offer a Bounty that large and still get posted. "So, obviously we're 'unting t'is bitch ass doctor, but should we take t'e time to figure out who posted it? Like, was it the Empire or t'e Val'shans? Can't imagine t'is is a private listing for t'at fucking price." The Val'shans were the opposite and equals to the Empire, lording over the dark underbelly of the Sol system with an iron fist. Crossing them was basically a death sentence, much like crossing the Empire. Rumors said they were the Empire, and the Rebellion, and some insane aliens that were actually head worms that took over bodies, but no one seemed to know the truth. "T'ough, I guess t'ey're both normally good for t'eir credits so it doesn't matter, huh? Just need to know who else got sent out for t'is poor dude's 'ead."

Danni was already halfway to the cockpit, the door sliding open with the familiar hiss, bit got stuck halfway. A swift kick to the scuff mark of the wall had the door sliding the rest of the way. "Anyone know anyt'in' about thl'is guy? Empire scientist, by the looks of it, but 15 million credits and t'e job sent out to t'e 'unters means 'e's dangerous as shit, right? Probst don't want to walk into somethin' like t'is blind again." Danni's nose wrinkled as he thought for a moment, and then groaned. We're gonna 'ave to beat thl'e ot'ers off wit' a stick, aren't we?" He switched the door of the cockpit into an open position, leaving it wide so he could talk and ease the ship out of hyperspace.

Danni threw himself into the seat, switching off the ion stabilizers and reducing the gravity generators intensity as he eased off the hyperspace drive. The gravity engines always got a little cranky when they were at full throttle for so long, but Danni just cooed quietly and whispered encouraging things until he felt them chill out a little. If they kept them that high out of hyperspace, they'd get yanked through the bottom of the ship. As the universe became more defined around them, Danni set the computer to start calculating the return trip. "So, what we t'inkin' about t'is? Wort' it?"

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April's blaster hit the holo table, thankfully not firing off, as Dorian barreled in and pulled them all into an intense hug. They couldn't help but jump up and down, returning the hug to the people they viewed as brothers. The amount of money offered up on this chit was life changing. They could do anything, go anywhere. They could go to the spas on Chandilar that only the richest in the galaxy could afford; they could buy those spas and relax, letting their purchase generate more money for them. They could build a palace on some moon somewhere, rename it after themselves, and relax. They could drink every waking hour of every day, and never run out of money. And the clothes. They could get some of the good stuff. The galaxy's finest designers would stock their closets, and gods, the holopics they'd take...

"We find this guy, ice him, and then we're fucking rich! I don't think anyone in the galaxy could find a way to spend 15 million credits, but by the gods, we're going to find it!!" April said ecstatically. They loved the idea of an AI assistant - only the fanciest people had those around, and April was enamored with the idea of that being them. They'd be princesses and princes with that sort of money - hell, maybe even kings!

"Is there any way we could go faster, Dory?" April asked. "I know you hate gunning it, but there's bounds to be loads of fuckers trying to find this guy, and I really really really don't want to be the last one there. And what if some of them are already on Titan? What if we lose our chance at 15 million credits because we're too slow? Please? Please? Can we gun it?" This wasn't the first time April had asked for them to go faster - they found the ship almost always to be a bit too slow, preferring to really push the engines to the max and then some. Patience wasn't their strong suit.

"Though, I'm surprised you two don't remember him - Haggar's the guy from the Nilix incident. Y'know, with all the creepy experiments that got loose and made a mess of things - remember the flora colossus we brought in a few years back, with the cybernetics that ate shit once we caught him? He was from this guy's lab. I'm surprised the Empire hasn't killed him already, to be honest. Heard from La'sara he got a new employer, but y'know how her info is, hit or miss." La'sara was a dancer at a joint on Arakko that April was really found of - although that was mostly because La'sara was there. There had been many drunken nights where April proclaimed that La'sara was the love of her life, but things had never really worked out between the two of them.

"Def think this is an imperial job, at any rate. But I don't care. Fifteen million credits is worth doing almost anything. And I don't have any sympathy for a fucked up scientist." Yes, they had heard the rumors that Dr. Haggar had been trying to save the experiments. But April didn't care about a rumored change of heart. A job was a job.

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15 million credits was enough to change someone's life. To change their lives. While Danni went off about purchasing housing and blowing it on drinks, and April spoke of fine clothing and business investments, Dorian simply stared at the middle space with a quiet smile. With his portion he could finally afford a Droid to help him out, what's more…he could get his hands on some of the latest tech. The newer units had enough power to allow him to do something he's been trying to achieve for years. Tracking down temporal anomalies on Terra and other reaches of space as they passed them. His hand made its way towards his chest, feeling a necklace that was beneath his shirt, a trinket looped along the chain, a keepsake from Percy before the jump.

Dorian looked up, seeing all of the trinkets that littered the ship, all of his were mostly crystalline, plant, and soil samples, unique to each planet that they'd visited. Some even contained bits of gas from the atmosphere. It started off as a way to show Percy his Odyssey across space. But eventually that hope slowly faded as time went by, yet Dorian couldn't help but continue to collect his samples. "Who cares who posted it. Anyone tries to skimp out on payment is gonna have to deal wit' us t'ree. 'ave t'ose bank accounts emptied before t'ey can even say mercy. Fuck t'at doctor, 'e made us lose out on a damn bounty. Owes us is what 'e does." He'd already began mapping the trajectory on the star map, it was a large arched path from where they were to Titan. But as usual April wanted to gun it, and he was certain that Danni would echo the sentiment. He stared at the map projected off the holotable for a moment before closing his eyes and sighing.

"Mon ami, I already know what you're about to suggest and it's reckless and idiotic…but we don't 'ave much of a choice. We need to get t'ere as fast as possible so 'ere's t'e plan. Danni we need to leave 'yperspace and pull a u-turn. Sooner we get t'at done t'e closer we will be from launch. I'll divert all non essential power towards t'e shields, April you'll be down in the turret room. Make sure to pelt any asteroids we may miss. Danni we need a partial link up, you'll be motoring most of your body as you pilot t'e ship while I'm inside you givin' you pointers on where to go. Excelsior, we're 'yperspacin' t'rough t'e asteroid field straight to Titan. Fastest route t'ere is." Dorian made his way behind Danni, heading to the cockpit as he began working out rerouting the power towards their shields.

Danni stared at Dee for several long seconds, before a grin so wide nearly split his face in two. "You're givin' me permission to run t'e Belt? I don't even 'ave to agree, pretend I agree, and t'en do it anyway? Well, shit!" Danni laughed with manic glee. "We ain't 'yperspace t'rough it, we gotta drive manual, but it'll still carve our trip time in 'alf. We'll be at Titan in less t'an a wink, if we survive t'e trip." Danni shut down the hyperspace computer, switching off the autopilot, and brought the ship around in a sharp turn.

"T'ankfully, biggest danger of t'e Belt won't affect us too, too much. T'e whole can't fuckin' see it too well until you're right on it, but since we're headin' t'ere on purpose, we won't slam cockpit first into a planetoid or somethin'." The engines whirled to life, flaring up to a brief scream, before settling into a normal hum after Danni got the ship hurling towards their destination. "When we get t'ere, I'll scan out t'e t'innest spot and we'll enter t'e Belt from t'ere and 'ope for t'e best!" The truth was the Belt had less than a 5% survival rate, even the tiniest mistake bringing a cascading series of asteroids obliterating everything in the Belt. But Danni was nothing if not confident, and with his favorite people in the entire galaxy here with him, there wasn't anything they couldn't do.

Fifteen million credits was also a fantastic motivator.

But before they all risked their lives in a potentially horrific fireball of death and despair, he popped his head out and flashed April a tooth grin. "Whatcha say, Princess? You on board with Dee's reckless and irresponsible idea to shortcut our way to Titan for some credits?"

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"So you want to run the Belt on purpose, even though barely anyone's done that and lived to tell the tale - and those who did had one of the best ships the Empire could buy and probably one hell of a healing factor - all for fifteen million credits?" April summarized. "Fuck yes. Let's do it. If anyone can run the Belt in a hunk of bolts like this, it's us." Was it reckless? Sure. But so far, life had more or less taught April that there was nothing their little trio couldn't handle. Hell, they even had a pet theory on a way they might be able to survive the cold vacuum of space if it came to it... not that they were exactly eager to test it out.

Maybe it was really stupid. But if they didn't do it, then there was no way they were going to be the ones to get that bounty. Someone else would beat them there. So this was it. Run the belt or give up entirely. And while April wasn't one to chase fame, they also couldn't help but think of how insanely epic that story would be - the Triumvirate blasting off through the Belt, nabbing this doctor, and getting that fifteen million credit payday. That was the stuff legends were based off of.

"I'll go get in position then," April said with a mad grin, before giving both Dorian and Danni a kiss on the cheek, and running on down to the turret room. They were so excited to blast some asteroids. They hadn't been into guns growing up, but ever since being in space, they had gotten very into firepower. The turret room was easily one of their favorite spots on the Excelsior.

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Dorian blinked twice, slowly, as Danni suggested they manually drive through the belt. It was about the most responsible thing he'd ever heard his best friend say. There was a proud smile on Dorian's face, as he continued to get everything ready for their trip into madness. He'd figured they'd all agree, it was exactly the kind of nonsense they ended up doing on their trips anyways, any why their ship and speeder constantly needed repairs. "We really should consider getting an Astromech after this Bounty. Even if it's just a cheap R2 unit to help with repairs." The lights inside the cabins began to flick off one by one, leaving only the glow of their trinkets once more. The emergency floor lights flicked to life, offering just enough of a dim light to help guide April down towards the turret room.

Dorian took a deep breath, something he'd done a dozen times before. Whereas April took out her aggression with blaster fire, and Danni cooked meals to decompress, he opted to release it all through quiet meditation. He felt as though it got his mind in the right place, especially after his other powers began to manifest. He needed a strong mind for all his abilities and he found meditation helped with that. "Alright, ready as we'll ever be. Shields are at full, all powers being diverted, and I even moved a little extra towards the engines so you can push even harder than we usually do…safely." He stood up and made his way over towards Danni, placing one hand onto his shoulder. He had his space suit at the ready, and his helmet clip tucked behind his ear.

There was a slow inhale in, and with the exhale he vanished from view and went into Danni. Typically when he possessed someone he could see through their eyes, experience the world from their point of view, though he could never feel what they felt physically. But with partial fuses, like what he and Danni had come to do, he cut himself off from those extra senses. Becoming more of a consciousness than anything. All he saw was pitch void surrounding him, it was his own personal sensory deprivation tank and it allowed him to sense things much better than he could out there. He extended his reach outwards, and when he was ready he gave Danni the mental OK to go.

Danni reversed the engines until they drifted still, a towering wall of rock and ice chunks in front them. Periodically, bits of metal glinted from better them- a graveyard of the less fortunate, or skilled depending how you looked at it, warning anyone away who might have tried it. With the plan in motion, places had been taken and Danni basked in the familiar feeling of Dee huddled in his… mind? Soul? Somewhere in him as he switched on the intercom.

"Whelp, I was 'opin' 'ere was a Kirkwood gap but looks like we aren't 'at lucky. Still, this'll be fun!" Danni giggled over the intercom to April. It was definitely going to be an experience and even if they did get there late, Danni wasn't going to be upset if they missed the fifteen million. Dee suggested an insane ship trip and that was a treat in and of itself! Of course, he wouldn't ever say that to the other two- they might actually kill someone if they missed the fifteen million and Danni didn't think any amount of cuddle piles would save him from the disappointment.

"Buckle in, babes! It's goin' to be a rocky ride!" Danni let out a little whoop as he slammed the thrusters as high as they could go, thrown back into his seat with the intensity. A more cautious pilot would have eased their way into the Belt, but caution and The Thriumvirate never mixed well. Danni felt the scream of the engines in his blood as the hurtled into the Belt, and couldn't hold back the thrilled laughter as he wove between the massive rock and ice structures capable of pulverized their space home into nothing but space dust.

Despite how difficult the task, The Excelsior and its crew were handling it as perfectly as anyone could. With with Dorian's senses cast far out beyond what could be immediately seen, Danni was weaving, bobing, and pulling loops around every hazard and was already ready for the next one. April was all over the smaller ones Danni couldn't afford to weave around, expert aim blasting them into fine dust that the ship's shields weren't bothered by. Despite the herculean task ahead of them, the three were perfectly suited to the job.

Then, The Excelsior's scanners went dark.

Danni frowned and tapped at the little screen, but shrugged. "Hey, Dee, I don't know if you want ta come out, but t'e space scanners are down. Can't really tell anyt'in' going on on the sides of t'e ship." Danni whistled happily as he skimmed the surface of an ice cluster twice the size of their ship. It was so fucking pretty, all sorts of shades of green and blue, that Danni kinda wanted a piece. "But I t'ink we're okay if you want ta wait. Might just be some wierd feedback from all the asteroids and metal floatin' around, t'ough. What you guys t'ink?"

Barely registering even in Dorian's extended senses, six small metal spheres launched off the surface of a rock the size of the moon, heading directly for The Excelsior.

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April's hands rested on the grips, their fingers resting gently on top of the two triggers. Usually when they were down here, it meant they had pissed off the wrong person and were desperately trying to get out of the situation while a hyperspace jump was calculated. That or their bounty had escaped on a ship and they were too impatient to just let them slip away and go through the work of tracking them down again. The gunnery bay was probably one of the quietest and most peaceful spots on the Excelsior. Through the scope, April could see the vast expanse of space beyond them, stretching out to infinity.

Dorian tended to meditate to find a sense of peace - but for better or worse, this was where April found it. They had inherited their family's warlike nature. They weren't a pacifist. They weren't good at staying still. But they were good at this. Through the years, their aim had only gotten better and better; they understood the weapons more, to the extent that the ship's guns felt almost like an extension of themselves.

Danni's voice them chimed in over the intercom, filling the bay with noise. April rolled their eyes, chuckling. a bit. "Maybe you'll find the Kirkwood gap you're looking for at the Weighing Stones, Danni," April replied over the comm system. At Danni's insistence, April realized that they hadn't actually strapped themselves in yet, and they quickly went about to it, just finishing right as Danni hit the thrusters - which was lucky, as otherwise, they probably would've splattered up against the wall.

April screamed slightly from the rush and the intensity of the acceleration - not a fearful scream, more of the sort of scream appropriate at like an amusement park ride. Gods, April missed Disneyland. They fired off the guns, blasting the smaller bits of debris and whatnot that they could, reducing them into bits of dust finer than sand. Each bit of ice that they passed by called out to April, a little tug at the edge of their consciousness, the water screaming out for them to manipulate it. But they ignored the siren call. They had to stay focused - if they missed just one bit of debris in their way that Danni couldn't clear out, it'd be trouble. Their shields would be shot at best - and at worst, they'd all die.

They frowned, hearing over the intercom that something was wrong with the scanners. Swiveling around with the viewscope, they tried to get a look at anything that might've been messing with them, but there was nothing - well, nothing aside from the flying space rocks trying to kill them, of course. "I don't see anything weird, might be a malfunction?" April suggested.

Got six bogies portside! Launched straight from the damned asteroids.

"On it," April verbally confirmed. They weren't surprised to hear Dorian's voice in their head. It wasn't anything new. They swiveled again, and this time they were able to spot the objects. April blasted four of them to bits, without any hesitation. Whatever these bastards were, they didn't care to find out. They did however manage to catch a glimpse of painted flames - Ravagers. "Fucking hell. They're Ravager scrapper bots!"

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Dorian sat in the darkness, feeling emptiness stretch across the vast space around them as Danni slowly pulled them up towards the belt. He could feel the icy rocks just beyond his senses, and then suddenly, they were surrounding him. Clearly his pilot had decided to hit the thrusters with little to no regard as to the actual danger they were in. Dorian instantly began helping to direct, letting Danni know of any and all incoming asteroids that posed a real threat to the ship. He hardly had to worry about the smaller stuff, as April's expert marksmanship would make quick work of any strays that Danni couldn't avoid. Nothing seemed to be hitting the ship and the run was smoother than he'd anticipated so far.

He was ready to sit back in his metaphorical chair, easing into his role just before Danni alerted him about a failing space scanner. As if to pile on to his worries, Dorian began to sense six metallic orbs coming from their port side. They weren't asteroids, having launched themselves off of one. He worried as to what could possibly be out here, deciding it was better safe than sorry to alert April of the danger. Got six bogies portside! Launched straight from the damned asteroids. One by one he felt the presence drop off until there were only two left.

"Goin' to 'ave to put t'at scanner on hold, let's 'ope it's just interference and not the damned Ravagers or we'll be in for a real bad time." As much as Dorian wanted to slip out and take a look at their console, he needed to focus on helping Danni within the blindspots of this ship. He sensed around, finding nothing but danger in every direction as he silently cursed to himself before slipping out of Danni and becoming material. "You're goin' to 'ave to work without me for a bit, I don't like these scanners bein' down and I don't like those damn scrappers bein' part of those pirates. So…let's see what we have 'ere." Dorian muttered to himself as he pulled out his tool from a side pouch and began to pry the display open.

Four of the six scrapper bots blew into smithereens, the remaining two managing to duck, twist, and spin their way past April's shots, using the scrap and rock as effective shields until they slammed into the ship, their protective casting retracting and their spindly legs sectioning to the side of the ship. When they weren't carving your life support systems into shambles, one could consider the little bots cute- as large as a Terran's head with four legs, a bulky body, one large visual sensor, and two arms, each equipped with powerful pincers and a laser cutter. They bots immediately got to work, lasers firing up and pressing at the translucent shields. Thankfully, they didn't seem to be in great condition, and one of the pairs of energy cutters flickered out. The bot shook its little hands in an attempt to reignite them, to no avail.

In the cockpit, Danni wasn't fully panicking, but he wasn't as cool as a cucumber either. "Ravagers?!?! T'ey're not supposed ta be in t'is system." Danni swore as he swung wide around another ice chunk and then spun to avoid two broken ships, the frozen bodies of their crews still hanging out of them. A warning alarm sounded from the dashboard as he suffered a familiar full body shiver as Dee extracted himself. "What t'e fuck! What's eatin' at our shields? We haven't even brushed an asteroid! Did any of t'em 'it t'e ship 'cause our shields are takin' a beatin' 'ere and I'm still flyin' blind on t'e sides!"

The trio's problems didn't stop there. Two volleys of energy bolts flew past them as Danni inadvertently dodged, the cloaking of the Ravager m-ship vanishing as they focused on taking down their next haul. Two aliens whooped and hollered in their ship, priming a volley of high velocity missiles next. Another indicator flashed on the dashboard. Their attackers were trying to contact them.

"W'at is goin' on? T'is was just supposed ta be fun flyin' t'rough t'e Belt, not an assault on our lives! T'e only t'in' assaulting us was supposed ta be our stupidity!" Danni whined as Dee started working on the scanners. Despite the dangers and the laser volleys around them, he couldn't help himself from reaching out and rustling one of his platonic soulmates' hair. He'd do the same to his other's but they were busy with guns and defending the ship. He flipped the comms on.

"'eeeey t'ere! What's goin' on, 'ot stuff?" Danni asked cheerily.

"We're going' to keept'his short, shit stains." The universal translator stuttered on the last part. Not an exact translation, but close enough for Danni to be mildly offended. He took good care of himself, thank you! "You cut your engines, we'll reel you in, we take your ship, your credits, yadda yadda yadda, and then we send you back to Arakko in your escape pod. You don't and we blow your ship to pieces, leave you for dead, and take anything worth some credits." The Ravager's demands echoed through the entire ship.

Danni frowned at the options. "But I like our ship! 'ow would you feel if we tried to jack your ship? You'd be kinda-" Danni grunted as he dodged another rock. "You'd be kinda pissed right? 'ow 'bout instead, you let us go and we don't send a message to t'e Val'Shan t'at you're 'iding out in the Belt, attacking t'eir favorite bounty 'unters!" Was Danni particular threatening when he didn't have a curtain of fire around him? No. Was he going to try anyways? Apparently.

All that earned him was a round of raucous laughter.

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"I missed two of the cute little shits, that's probably why, Dee," April explained over the comms, frowning. It was going to be almost impossible to shoot them off the side of the ship with the guns - and probably stupid to try, with the damage the shields were taking. Their eyes darted over towards the ice chunks and it gave them an idea - maybe they could use that water source to grab the stupid buzz droids and get rid of them? But before April could give it a shot, the ship shook as Danni took immediate evasive action. Where before there had been nothing, April saw on the viewport a Ravager ship. "Dank farrik," they muttered under their breath.

It wasn't like they should have been surprised or anything - Ravager scrapper droids didn't just travel by themselves. And the Belt probably was ripe with the destroyed vessels of idiots that the Ravagers could go pick apart for valuables. April wondered how long these assholes had been up to this - if they were a large part of the reason almost no one survived the Belt. The odious voices of the Ravagers filled the ship and it made April's skin crawl. In that moment, they wish they had the abilities of their grandfather - that they could just crush that stupid tin can of a ship like a bug. "Fat chance they'd put us in an escape pod - there's no way they're letting us get out of here alive," April muttered.

The ice chunks were looking really tempting. April loved guns.

But make no mistake, they themselves were a big gun.

Reaching out with their power, April felt the solidified water crystals out in space. For a brief second, an intrusive thought suggested to them that maybe they ought to throw those popsicle corpses at the Ravagers ship. Instead, they let their powers wrap around a chunk of ice - it was difficult and weird, manipulating something through the vacuum of space, taking more concentration than they could really afford away from the guns... It felt like trying to delicately manipulate using a pair of tongues attached to your tongue while balancing on a spinning top. Almost impossible.

They tightened their mental grip on the ice chunk, hoping to drag it - but instead, like squeezing a bar of soap in the bath, the chunk shot upwards. Cursing, April spotted another chunk - fortunately, they were everywhere - and repeated the process. It was a little easier this time, but still, not a simple ordeal. This time, they didn't use as much pressure, focusing more on the fling part of the movement than the grab - and the chunk shot off in the direction of the Ravager ship.

Before they could cheer though, the Ravager ship avoided it.

April groaned. "You have got to be kidding me!" This they didn't say over comms.

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Dorian glanced up at the warnings that blared across the ship's screen. Silently cursing to himself as he inspected the panel before him, grumbling to himself while he carefully poured over every wire, chip, and plug in for the scanners. "We 'ad some Ravager Scrappers attack our ship, April got four of t'em but two managed to sneak by and make it to our shields." He looked back up to see the warning once again, debating on how much time it would take for the damned thing to eat through the defenses before going back to work on his panel. He was about to try and rewire something when Danni suddenly jerked the ship, two energy bolts zipping past them as Dorian went flying sideways and hit the wall.

"젠장" he cursed as he made his way back and knelt down by the boards to check underneath. He felt a familiar hand rustling in his hair as he tried to work. Dorian rolled his eyes before shutting the paneling once more. "Warn a guy next time. I don't 'ave a seat belt while repairin'. 'unk'a'junk isn't broken t'e asteroid field must be messin' with our scanners." he declared as he placed his tool back into his pouch. Another indicator lighting up on the panel. Dorian got real quiet as the transmission came in, letting Danni do all the talking as usual. Hopefully these idiots didn't know who they were messing with, and that meant they had surprise on their side.

As D was busy parleying with the Space Pirates, Dorian was snagging his space suit that he'd set off into his chair just before they hit the belt. He slid into the body suit fairly easily, zipping up the back before throwing on the cloak and reattaching his pack. He pressed a button under the cloak and the suit shrunk down to fit his form before tapping his earpiece so that the helmet was activated. He gave Danni a just as the visor darkened, one that told him he'd be right back. At first nothing happened, but after another breath Dorian phased into the Astral Realm.

He flew off straight through the ship, cutting through the walls and making his way past his obstacles until he left out into the cold space. Fortunately his Astral Self didn't need atmosphere, the suit was more of a precaution in case his plan went horribly wrong. He continued his flight towards the Ravager ship behind them, entering the cockpit and drifting off to the side to avoid touching any of them until he was ready. Hopefully aside from getting them off their tail, they could score some more loot from these pirates so that they would think twice before attacking the Triumvirate again.

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The Scrapper droids, unbothered by the conflicts happening around them, continued to attack their shields. The one bot got its laser cutter working and scanned for the weakest portion of shielding nearby before starting. The other managed to pierce a hole in the shield and the outer layer of the ship's paneling began to melt. Danni chewed his lip nervously as Dee disappeared. He agreed the Ravagers wouldn't put them in a escape pod- they were going to slit their throats and leave their corpses in the rubble.

However, this issue suddenly took a back burner as the entire landscape of the Belt began to move. April's first ice chunk slammed into a number of rocks on the way, causing this section of the Belt to suddenly come alive. Rocks smashed into each other, pulverizing broken dreams and hopes further, bouncing off each other at weird slants and angles. "Oh fucking sons of a b-" Danni screamed, both hands on the grips as he tried to navigate this changing hellscape.

It was a rock from the right that did them in. With his sensors down, he'd been 99.9% certain he cleared that area but he was quickly corrected when they was thrown violently right and the ship started spinning out of control. "What t'e fuck?! What are these jackasses doin'?! Are they controllin' t'e asteroids? Are t'ey mutants or somet'in', cause t'at's our shtick!" Something had cracked in his neck as he was tossed around in his chair like a ragdoll, but Danni didn't give a shit about the awkward pain in his neck now. He grabbed the steering grip, toggled all engine power into the left thruster, and hit it as hard as he could to get them under control. As he did, they barely skimmed the surface of another ice chuck, the shields taking all the impact for the ship.

The bots were not so lucky, a few sad beeps between them as they were crushed on the unforgiving icy surface.

Behind them, the Ravager ship wasn't nearly as lucky. The shifting rock garden sent a nasty jagged piece straight through one of their thrusters and took out one of their laser turrets, the ship sparking and the lights inside flickering ominously. Already loaded, the missiles shot out at The Excelsior, but swung high, disappearing into the expansive void of space. They tried to back out of the chase, but another rock crashed into them, leaving the ship hurtling further down and away from the Excelsior. It seemed to be on its last legs.

Danni nearly cried with joy as their sensors came back online. "April, finish t'ose assholes, babes! And do we know where Dee went? Did he go try for repairs with t'ose bots fuckin' with t'e 'ull?"

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Fuck Fuck Fuck Fuck Fuck This was bad. The amount of indicators lighting up on the Ravagers screen made it look like perimeter fireworks at Magic Kingdom. These two idiots were hardly Ravagers, if anything they may have just jacked an old ship and given themselves the damned title. Dorian jumped into action, possessing the pilot on this god-forsaken ship. Reaching towards his side with speeds that would make even April proud of him, Dorian pulled out the blaster and held it point blank at the second crew mate's face. The only indication that his plan had worked was the familiar pitch of the laser firing as red light illuminated the side of his new face alongside the many flashing lights.

The loud thud of a body hitting the floor followed before being forgotten by the mess that was left behind of this ship. He tried a quick mental sweep of his victims mind, searching for how to pilot this hunk of junk and for any possible droids to help out with repairs as he flew. He found some information, but couldn't put it to action fast enough before more debris and ice began to shift and swirl around him. Save for all the previous damage, the ship seemed to be doing fine, no new alerts, no new collisions, he could do this.

He examined the ship's H.U.D.; a wing was down, thruster out, and a damned rock just slammed him down further into the field. Dorian's body lurching forward as he clung to the controls before strapping himself into a seat and opening up comms. "Lucy, I'm 'ome. Do not attack, I repeat, Do not attack. Ravagers are downed and I'm hijackin' t'is now 'unk of junk for an extra 'aul. T'e very least scrap it for parts for t'e Excelsior. But D, A, I'm gonna need 'elp pilotin' t'is shit. It's in bad shape and if you could clear a path for me I'd greatly appreciate it."

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April screamed as they started spinning wildly out of control, as something had crashed into the ship. Luckily, they had already been strapped down into their seat, otherwise they would've been flung around the gunnery bay like a porcelain doll. It was also fantastic that any motion sickness from space travel had long since been worked out - as otherwise, April might've also ended up redecorating the place with the previous day's dinner. And no one wanted to see that. "Dee what the hell did we just dooooo?" April yelped, their vision swimming ever so slightly before thankfully clearing. "What did we hit???"

They had no idea that it was the consequences of their own actions they were currently reaping.

They gasped, though, at Danni's suggestion that the Ravagers were controlling the asteroids! For a brief second, they considered if maybe... no way. But... okay, they had to admit there was maybe a 5% chance that this was somehow their fault. "Um, Dee, that might've been me. I was trying out something new and the ice chunk kinda slipped and maybe it caused everything to go crazy almost like in a pinball machine," April suggested awkwardly. "But it's okay, because we're okay, and we're going to kill these assholes, get out of the Belt, and get those credits!!"

Their left eye twitched slightly. They didn't like failure. They didn't do well with it.

Then it turned out that they actually could not kill those assholes. Because Dorian was possessing them. And more importantly, he just explicitly asked them not to. April groaned. "But it's gonna take so much more time to haul that piece of shit, Dory! And we're gonna miss out on the scientist dude and then we aren't gonna get the money and then we would've busted the ship a lil' bit for nooothing," they complained. "Is there anything even worth it on that ship? Because I think we blow it to pieces and get the fuck through the Belt."

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See, Danni had a number of sins tucked neatly under his belt. He knew he acquired his Papa's fondness for a drink over a decade and a half of murder and mayhem (thankfully, he had two amazing partners that didn't let him get anywhere as wild as the stories Pops and Papa used to tell him), he could get lazy when they were in between jobs and even sometimes when they were on one, he liked to chat with everyone and maybe sorta accidently spilled some secrets when the conversation just got too good. He knew that. Everyone had flaws, everyone had issues post Nemo jump- their friends scattering or dying, their parents obliterated in a beam of unholy light or whatever happened. It left a weight on your soul that you couldn't very well just therapy away. But Danni was rarely mad. Stressed, sure. Depressed, check. But truly and honestly angry? Nah, he'd rather just joke about it until he could nurse the bottom of a bottle in the next shifty space port they hit.

But with the shields taking a beating, every indicator screaming something at him, the asteroid field whirling around him like a miles high meat pulverized, April admitting to making a hard journey near damn impossible (fair, it was an accident, Danni was just stressed), and Dee insisting on getting a barely functional hunk of junk out of one of the most difficult fucking runs in this solar system, even Danni reached his limit. "Dorian Stephen Gray." Danni seethed over the comms, trying to turn the Excelsior around to get back to the dead Ravagers ship. "If you do not get your sorry ass back into t'is-" He bit his tongue as he jerked in his seat, another asteroid coming out of nowhere to hit them hard. Another light started flashing, warning of panel damage above the life support systems. Danni tried to get their spiraling back under control, but before he could even get his hands back on the throttle, they hot another object. It felt like a chunk of metal, and the life support system monitor started blinking too, showing something inside had jostled hard enough to damage their oxygen recycling system.

"Dorian, get t'e fuckin' nav data, and we'll sell it off on Titan for repairs. I get it, you want ta take care of t'e ship, but t'e longer we're in 'ere, t'e more damage we're takin' and I literally cannot drive t'at 'unk of junk and us out safely." Danni bit out. Thankfully, it seemed the asteroid field was settling, the hunks of rock and ice settling a little. "We need you 'ere, now. Our life support is startin' ta fail." He could feel the frustrated tears start prickling at the edges of his eyes, but he wiped them away as he tried to keep the ship in a safe position for Dorian to come back. "'ow you 'olding up back t'ere, Princess?"

Meanwhile, the chunk of metal that the ship hit was about the size of a car and impacted directly into the Gunnery window after bouncing off one of the turrets. Some spider webbing had formed on the outer layer of glass, but thankfully it looked like it shouldn't get any worse… as long as nothing large hit it again.

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As soon as Danni's voice cut through the comms, Dorian's face dropped. He rarely ever saw him mad, and even less so to the point of using Dorian's full government name. He pressed the button to send out his last communication on this ship. "Easy big boy, I'm heading out now. There's a secondary ship inside this one, undamaged and small enough to help me navigate this field. I'll reach out to you once I'm airborne. Over and out." He tried to keep his message and tone light, hoping to ease Danni a bit from all of his concerns. As he made his way towards the back of the ship, he spotted a few potential hot ticket items, snagging an electrostaff, a boundeather pouch hopefully full of credits, and a holopad. Never hurts to have more. Dorian tucked the staff under his arm, clipping the pouch to his side as he slid the pad into a pouch.

The ship wasn't anything too impressive, but it'd do well enough to get him back towards the Excelsior and crew, and as a bonus this class of ship came with magnetic traction to help anchor onto other spacecrafts, handy for Ravagers to board others ships, and even handier for him to steal theirs. He sat down into the ship, strapping on and placing all the items into the nearby seat. Dorian took in a breath before letting out his telekinetic powers. Hoping to use them to keep the asteroids at bay as he attempted this suicide run. He watched as a few of the rocks drifted aimlessly away as he began to flip the switches to get out of the loading bay. He patted his side as he went to reach for his music player, realizing he wasn't in his own body at the moment. "Merde. Well let's see what kind of tunes these guys listen to." He turned on the radio, hearing a horrid sound they called music pumping out before shutting it back off.

"Here goes something." He dropped out from under the M-class, his small craft coming to life as he punched the controls. Instantly he shot downwards, his powers keeping the blasted asteroids away as he halted. "The fuck?" He tried once more, suddenly flipping upside down as he attempted to move himself back up and forward before opening up his comms to Excelsior. "These asshats have the system settings inverted! How am I supposed to pilot this thing? sigh I'm off the ship, headed your way, I can mag-grip to you once I'm close enough and then I'll get started on the life support. I think I snagged some credits too, but won't know till later."